When Memphis (24) made his debut in PSV's main squad in 2011 at the age of 17, there was really no one who doubted the striker's potential. Memphis stood out as a youngster with his enormous physicality, speed, explosiveness and fantastic kicking technique. All the ingredients for a potential top footballer were present. The ball was in Memphis' court.
This story previously appeared in PSV Youth Magazine, a magazine for everyone involved with PSV's youth training program
Champion
The forward, who transferred from Sparta Rotterdam's youth academy to PSV's in 2006, was mostly in the shadow of Dries Mertens until 2013. Then he seized his chance. In the 2013-2014 season, Memphis was a base player for the first time, and a successful World Cup with the Oranje followed. He decided to stay with PSV for one more year and that turned out to be an excellent choice: PSV became national champions and Memphis crowned himself top scorer of the Eredivisie with 22 goals. A transfer to the great Manchester United followed. There he played for a year and a half. Meanwhile, Memphis is the big star of Olympique Lyon and the Dutch national team.
And PSV's five youth players know that too. With a printed A4 sheet full of questions and a somewhat nervous look, Eus Waayers (O13), Jason van Duiven (O14), Iggy Houben (O15), Dylan Hopman (O16) and Jeremy Antonisse (O17) see that the Skype connection of youth coach Rick Antonise does not let them down. He just made contact with Memphis, who just finished training with the Oranje. The Dutch team is preparing for the Nations League duels with France and Germany. Jeremy Antonisse's face in particular paled when he saw Memphis, his idol, life-size on the connected monitor. "You guys all right?" asks Memphis with a broad smile. The youth players look at the screen in admiration.
Return
The youngest of the bunch was allowed to start: Eus Waayers (12) introduced himself and fired off the first question. "Hi Memphis, do you hope to ever return to PSV?" The grin on the striker's face betrays that he is not getting that question for the first time. "Good question! I must say that my years at PSV were very nice. Who knows, in the future. That's always hard to say. It makes me very happy when I see PSV playing in the Champions League. They had some bad luck with the difficult draw, but what they show is really good. I am not going to say right now that I will ever come back, but it was a pleasure to be able to play at such a beautiful club. Maybe someday I can do that for a second time." Eus looks at Memphis gratefully, Jason van Duiven's turn. The ambitious striker of PSV O14 is well on target this season. His question was not surprising. "Whether I won any prizes in PSV's youth training," Memphis chimed in. "Yes, in the D1 we became champions. That year we also won many other tournaments. Personally, I was voted Player of the Tournament three times, so I did win some awards yes. What about you? You're a striker, aren't you? Then why do you have number four?" asks Memphis laughing as he looks at the number on Jason's training vest. "It goes by name at PSV," Jason explains.
The world's top
Iggy Houben often faces strong defenders as an outfielder. Memphis has also come face to face with top players in his career, but who was the very best defender? "Pfoe, that's a tough one for me." A few seconds of silence followed. "I think Raphaël Varane is, along with Leandro Bonucci, one of the best players I have played against. But here at the Dutch national team we also have someone walking around and his name is Kenny Tete. I think defensively he's really one of the best I've ever played against. He is very difficult to pass." Obvious, but who does Memphis actually think is the best football player in the world right now? Dylan Hopman asks himself. A long silence follows. "You ask tough questions, Dylan," says coach Rick Antonise. "Pithy question indeed," says Memphis. "I really think Mbappé is a world player right now. He is already showing very nice things at a young age. But of course you have Messi and Ronaldo who are also phenomenal. Really a difficult question, you come up with difficult questions guys. I'm not going to choose between Messi and Ronaldo either. Above all, we should be happy that both of them are still playing football at the highest level."
Focus
And finally there was Jeremy Antonisse of PSV O17, "Hi Memphis, how do you make sure you keep all your focus on football?" Memphis: "By being very aware of what my outlet is. No player is busy with football 24 hours a day, but it is important to get your rest off the field. I do that, for example, by gaming with my friends, or by reading the Bible. This keeps my focus on playing football. When I am on the field or at the club, there is only one thing that is most important: to be the very best. It's all or nothing. My attitude is never to give 70%, I always go for the maximum. That's the type of player I am. What position do you play in?" Jeremy: "I play left back." A familiar position for Memphis. "I used to think as a striker sometimes that I had to necessarily score, preferably two or three times. You shouldn't put too much focus on that, you'll just get tangled up with yourself. If you know your talent and you enjoy the game, it will all work out." Memphis gets out of his bed, stands up and moves the camera to the ground. There stands a pair of colored football shoes. "Once these things come on, only your utmost focus counts," he said.
Hunger for success
Everyone was able to ask their question, but the players haven't had enough of Memphis yet. And vice versa, neither have they. The Olympique Lyon striker visibly enjoys giving advice to the boys. "Ask away, boys! You have me on the phone now, in a moment you won't be able to ask me anything more." Jason van Duiven wonders why Memphis was better than many of his teammates. "I think the will and the hunger to get to the top. I always wanted to get into the first as soon as possible. You have to want to be just a little bit better than someone else. You can achieve that by training a little longer. After a training session I would often continue finishing or taking free kicks." That hunger for success was always there. Memphis knew early on that he would become a football player, although he says he also did his best at school. "Because of that, maybe I was a little lax at school sometimes. I found it hard to put in 100 percent effort everywhere. I was only concerned with the next training session anyway, because I wanted to become a professional football player per se. I don't recommend that to you, but you have to realize that football is really something very beautiful. You have to do everything you can to succeed in it, especially if you feel you were brought into the world for that. I am really very grateful to the PSV Youth Academy. It has a special place in my heart."
Hope and confidence
After a group photo (read: the youth players posed in front of the large monitor on which Memphis could be seen), the striker grabbed his chance one more time. "I really hope you guys got something out of it. Do your best. No, more than your best. You have to want to be better than a competitor at your position. I wish you a lot of success. Hopefully I will see you back in the first team in a few years. I have every confidence in that. Calmly wait for your chance, that's what I did. Go for it, guys!"